Idaho Falls man pleads guilty to failure to register as a sex offender, assault on officer - East Idaho News
Crime Watch

Idaho Falls man pleads guilty to failure to register as a sex offender, assault on officer

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POCATELLO — Ronald Lee Chaney pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender and assault on an officer on Sept. 1.

The Idaho Falls man was indicted by a federal grand jury in Pocatello on Aug. 27, 2013, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release.

The 34-year-old was convicted in May 2002 for sexual abuse of a child under the age of sixteen years in Idaho. He was required to register and update his registration under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

SORNA requires that sex offenders register and keep their current registration in each jurisdiction where they reside.

On July 1, 2013, the defendant and another fugitive sex offender traveled by bus from Salt Lake City, Utah to Pocatello, Idaho where Chaney resided until Aug. 7, 2013 when he was arrested.

To avoid arrest, Chaney jumped from a third story window and forcibly assaulted and impeded a Pocatello police detective who was assisting the United States Marshals Service in apprehending Cheney, according to the news release.

The police report indicates that Chaney punched the officer on the forehead, placed his hands around the detective’s neck and squeezed.

The crime of failure to register as a sex offender is punishable by up to ten years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000 and up to a life term of supervised release, according to the release.

Assault of an officer is punishable by up to eight years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release.

Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 17 before U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Pocatello.

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